How to get the best out of apps

23 October 2014, Cătălina Ciontu, Senior Communications Executive

Apps are becoming more and more present among smartphone users of all ages, whether it’s for chatting, news watching, social media or entertainment purposes – and more and more people are paying for apps via their phone bills.

Apps provide great content and services but because purchases can be deducted from your phone bill or your prepaid credit, it pays to know what you're doing.

Here at PhonepayPlus, as the UK’s regulator for premium rate services, we are running a pilot project to regulate app store purchases that are charged to a phone bill. To find out more about the pilot and your rights as a consumer, see our blog for Which? Conversations.

1. Install apps from official stores Such as Google’s Play Store, Apple’s Store, Amazon’s Appstore, Windows Store, Blackberry World etc. and avoid apps often offered for free on bulletin boards or peer-to-peer networks.

2. Check the content ratings and the reviews from other usersThere are millions of apps available on Google’s Play Store, Apple’s Store, Amazon’s Appstore, Windows Store, Blackberry World etc. and this might make the choice of which apps to download rather daunting. Ratings and reviews from other users can highlight the quality of an app, unsafe content or performance.

3. Pay attention to permissionsAlways read the permission requests you are prompted when installing an app before accepting them. For example it is normal for a maps app to request permission to access your location, but there are instances when some apps request more permission than what is strictly necessary.

4. Treat your phone like your walletAnd don’t enter your phone number freely unless you know how it will be used. Remember to set a passcode to your device, keep the security factory settings of the phone and log out of password protected services (e.g.: mobile banking, email accounts etc.)